Beat Dyslexia

Direct From the Authors

We’re pleased to announce that we’ve now added our step-by-step multi-sensory literacy programme, Beat Dyslexia to our online shop, and because you’re buying direct from us, the authors, we can offer each of the 6 books at a flat price of £25 plus postage and packaging. The books are also available from outlets such as Amazon and from publisher LDA, however, the prices can vary widely and they’re not always available.

Each of the books has recently been updated (after first being published in 1998!) and Book 6 was added to the series last year.

The success of Beat Dyslexia inspired us to create the numeracy equivalent, Beat Dyscalculia.

Synopsis

This new, revised edition retains all the strengths of the well-established “Beat Dyslexia” series to support those students struggling to read, write or spell. The comprehensive programme develops literacy skills by combining successful phonological approaches with the very best of conventional, multi-sensory and structured teaching methods. The series takes pupils from the earliest stages of letter recognition through to full literacy. Using a wide range of imaginative approaches, the activities are carefully structured so that all the goals are small and attainable. Pupils gain confidence through consolidation and success as they develop their reading skills and build a sound understanding of basic spelling and grammar. The wide variety of phonic activities are based on multi-sensory techniques that assist the teacher in maintaining pupils’ interest and enthusiasm – making them ideal for those with short concentration spans. Although primarily designed for dyslexic pupils of all ages, in one-to-one or small group sessions, the careful use of visual and aural approaches, in a clearly structured progression, make them suitable for any pupil struggling to acquire literacy skills.

What is a stringalong?

A stringalong is a physical representation of a particular number. (What number or numbers have you got?) They are designed to help children learn in a fun way, combining visual, physical and auditory learning to play to their individual strengths and learning styles. Each stringalong can be used on its own or with other stringalongs to demonstrate basic mathematical concepts and build good foundations for learning. The cubes can be manipulated along the strings to show different things and help children explore, understand, visualise and remember. A zero stringalong is particularly useful!

Why is my stringalong coloured?

Each coloured string corresponds to a number in the Beat Dyscalculia multi-sensory programme and each cube represents a unit. We use the colours of the rainbow to help children identify and remember each number. The cubes themselves aren’t coloured to show that each unit is the same.

How many ways can a stringalong be used?

Stringalongs can be used in at least 10 different ways as part of our structured multi-sensory numeracy programme. Why don’t you try them for yourself (and let us know if you come up with any other ideas!). These are:

Odd and Even Numbers – put all the cubes in the middle and then try and move them 1 at a time so that you have the same number at each end. If you end up with 1 cube left in the middle it’s an odd number and if you can divide them equally between both ends, it’s an even number.

Addition – divide the cubes on your stringalong into 2 and then add the 2 numbers together by counting them and pushing them together again. For example, if you have a 5 stringalong, split the cubes into groups of 2 and 3 and then add them together to make 5. If you have more than 1 stringalong you can tie them together to add them. For example, if you have a 2 stringalong and a 3 stringalong, you can tie them together and then count the cubes to make 5.

Subtraction – you can do subtraction by doing the reverse of addition above – i.e. again with a 5 stringalong, you can do the sum 5-3 by moving 3 cubes to 1 end of the string and counting how many cubes you have left.

Number Bonds – split the cubes on your stringalong into as many different number pairs as you can.

Multiplication – with a 6 stringalong you can demonstrate that 3 lots of 2 make 6 or 2 lots of 3 make 6.

Division – as multiplication, above.

Remainders – as with odd and even, you can demonstrate that when you divide some numbers you are left with a remainder.

Bigger Numbers – you can use multiple stringalongs, including 10 stringalongs (silver strings) to can show the difference between ‘teen’ and ‘ty’ numbers. For example, thirteen with be a 10 and a 3, whereas thirty will be 3 lots of 10 stringalongs.

Essential Vocabulary – a set of stringalongs can be used to help teach measuring and vocabulary such as short, shorter, shortest, long, longer, longest.

Co-ordination and Motor Skills – constructing the stringalongs can help with co-ordination and motor skills, following instructions, distinguishing left and right and vertical and horizontal.

How Do I Find Out More?

Stringalongs are just one of the items in our Beat Dyscalculia packs, which use a combination of workbooks, songs, poems, stories, and specially designed tools and resources. These all work together using the same structure, colours and concepts, to create a ‘complete multi-sensory maths programme in a box’.

To find out more about the packs and what’s included, take a look at How To Buy, or contact us on 01943 871902, c.stone@addacus.co.uk.

Beat Dyscalculia can be used to teach numeracy to children of all ages and abilities, but is specifically designed as an intervention programme for children in Key Stage 1 and 2 who are struggling with the core curriculum. It is particularly effective for those with dyscalculia, dyslexia and autism. It has also been used with children in Key Stage 3 who are working below the expected levels. To find out more about our programme and how it works, take a look at What is Beat Dyscalculia?

The programme and all the resources have been created by Celia Stone and Myra Nicholson, who are both teachers with over 50 years’ experience of teaching children with special needs and two of the co-creators of Beat Dyslexia. To find out more about them, take a look at About Us.

Celia Stone, one of the creator’s of Beat Dyscalculia and Beat Dyslexia, and MD of Addacus Ltd, has been nominated for a Sue Ryder Woman of Achievement Award. She has been nominated in the Education category in recognition of her hard work and achievements in helping people with dyslexia, Irlen Syndrome and dyscalculia over the last 35 years, in her adopted home county of Yorkshire.

The awards ceremony takes place at the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds on June 7th. The event aims to recognise and celebrate the achievements of some of Yorkshire’s amazing women, whilst raising vital funds for Sue Ryder. The charity, which is 60 years old this year, cares for people with incurable illnesses and funds a number of homes, hospices and services in Yorkshire.

For further information about Sue Ryder and the awards, visit their website.

Celia Stone, co-author of Beat Dyslexia, talks about her new work with children with numeracy problems in Cornwall on Monday.

Celia Stone, co-author of best-selling multi-sensory literacy programme Beat Dyslexia has been invited to run a workshop at a conference organised by Cornwall Dyslexia Association and Cornwall Council. She will be talking about her experiences as a teacher with over 35 years’ experience of working with children with special education needs, and about her new initiative, Beat Dyscalculia, for children who are struggling with maths. The multi-sensory programme includes songs, stories, shapes and colours and a counting machine called an Addacus that Celia has invented.

The conference, entitled ‘Meeting The Needs of Young People with Dyscalculia’ aims to highlight the issues that children can have when learning maths and numeracy and offer some solutions. It will be held at The Royal Cornwall Showground in Wadebridge on Monday 26th March.

In an average class, at least 1 child will have dyscalculia and around half of dyslexic children will also have problems with maths.

Celia said: “I was inspired to create the programme by a little boy called Oliver who one day came into one of my literacy classes with tears on his eyelashes. I decided not to ask him what was wrong and eventually he sidled up to my desk and said, ‘please miss, what does ‘times’ mean?’ It was then that it struck me that there were many kids out there who were struggling with the language and concepts of maths, and so I set out to do something about it.

“When I started working with dyslexic kids, dyslexia wasn’t something that was widely known about and understood, and that’s the position we’re in with dyscalculia today. This is one of the biggest problems facing schools at the moment: There is so much pressure on schools to improve literacy and numeracy levels and make sure all children get good SATs scores, but until teachers can recognise children with dyscalculia and are able to modify their teaching methods to suit children who learn differently, they’re going to struggle.”

Celia Stone is one of the most inspiring, yet unassuming women I’ve ever met. She has changed the lives of both my husband and my daughter, along with thousands of other young people.

She has tackles every challenge that life has throws at her with pragmatism and the question, ‘how can we make a plan?’: From fleeing the threat of violence and unrest in her native Zimbabwe in the 70’s, with her husband, 3 small children, £500 and whatever they could carry; to setting up a specialist dyslexia unit at the Yorkshire school where her husband taught.

She now has more than 35 years’ experience of working with children with special educational needs – including my husband who was thrown out of his local primary school aged 7, because they ‘couldn’t teach him’. With Celia’s help, his dyslexia hasn’t held him back and he has gone on to become a successful entrepreneur, speaker and local businessman. At 18, she screened him for Irlen lenses – coloured glasses which helped him read for the first time. 25 years later she did the same for our daughter.

In the meantime, alongside her full-time role as a wife, mother, and teacher, she set up a regional centre for Irlen lenses in Yorkshire and co-wrote Beat Dyslexia – a best-selling multi-sensory literacy programme that’s used in schools throughout the country. Since retiring from teaching, inspired by a little boy called Oliver who didn’t know what ‘times’ meant, she has created a companion ‘Beat Dyscalculia’ programme for kids who have problems with maths. It includes a counting machine called an Addacus that she has invented and patented!